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Saturday, August 10, 2013

Stack Rundown, 08/10/2013

STACK RUNDOWN IS BACK WITH A VENGEANCE! and what that entails, I'm not entirely sure! But there were comics, and I talked about them! Surprisingly enough, there were quite a few books this week with romantic subplots, and plenty of awkwardness to go around!

Green Arrow #23

After last issues "Your dad had an illegitimate child with an assassin" bomb, we learn what Shado and Robert Queen's relationship was… and it's pretty much that. Of course there was something more to the baby making, and it all had to do with Robert and Komodo looking for the green arrow and this new team of the Outsiders. When we weren't in the flashbacks, brilliantly portrayed by Sorrentino, there was still Count Vertigo to deal with, and that's where Shado shined, kicking his ass, and stomping on his ego's balls. We end with the debut of Richard Dragon, who is much, much different than the previous incarnation, and could lead to a possibly interesting change of pace for the book. Could have done without the Nayomi character admitting she has a crush on Oliver, I just don't care. All in all though, another great issue.

Earth 2 #15

Unfortunately, I'm finding myself a bit distracted, with Robinson's impending departure in the back of my mind. I mean, there's some stuff teased in here, you know he's not going to be able to make good on in a single issue, and lord knows what Tom Taylor is going to address when he jumps on. Like I said, it's unfortunate, I just can't seem to shake the feeling. Regardless, what was presented was pretty good, as the war between the wonders and terrors was pretty action packed, and I'm really interested in seeing Barda and Mr. Miracle find Batman, which you have to imagine will get followed up on. Also, it was pretty funny, I'm sitting here reading this wondering why the War Dogs kept the heroes alive, knowing full well that's just what happens in super hero books, sure enough, Jay wonders why too, so I laughed, and at least it was addressed!

Green Lantern #23

After three issues, I feel confident in saying that I'm very happy with the new direction this book has taken. Venditti has really gotten things going pretty strongly, and Billy Tan seems to have gotten into the swing of things. Hal as the leader of the corps is a pretty fun read, mostly because he just sucks at it, and people bring up the fact that he does, but whatever, he's Hal fucking Jordan, he's gonna do what he's gonna do. There's enough humor sprinkled through out this issue (most notably, Hal looking over the new recruits) to break up the Corps drama, and keep things light in between whatever is threatening to kill the corps this month. Venditti is definitely following a form close to what Geoff Johns did with the book, planting seeds here and there, while other bigger threats loom, but he's also taking it in a new direction, which keeps everything fresh. So, yeah, I'm really glad the Green Lantern franchise didn't implode when Johns left!

Trinity of Sin: The Phantom Stranger #11

TRINITY WAR, SON! Yep, another tie-in, but of all those series, including Pandora and Constantine, I'm going to say that this was by far the best tie-in, considering it actually handled some direct plot of Trinity War, in trying to figure out what the hell happened with Dr. Light. The Phantom Stranger takes Batman, Deadman and Katana into the afterlife, and if you're familiar with the recent issues of this title, that's not going to go well for the Stranger. It was a cool issue with some nice scenes of Katana and Batman's personal heavens, but the whole story ends as badly as one would expect. Stranger isn't gone for good, obviously, since he still has his own book, but something happens that would give some support to a theory surrounding Dr. Light. Arthur Light is married to Kimiyo Hoshi, the female Dr. Light who people liked, and wasn't a serial rapist in past continuity, in this issue, Arthur gives Stranger some magic sphere, or something, to give to his family if he doesn't make it back… ten bucks says that eventually turns Kim into Dr. Light. Just saying. Side note… I'm surprised we didn't get a Damian nod when bring back people from the dead was brought tup.

Swamp Thing #23

So… force feeding a pregnant woman demon whiskey was probably the bummer of the week, doesn't get quite more grim than that, to be honest. This concluded the short "Whiskey Tree" arc, and John Constantine's guest spot, and it ends with a bang. Swamp Thing is at his best when he's doing crazy things with his powers, and becoming he size of a mountain is pretty damn crazy. There were other smaller bits in this issue I enjoyed, like the back and forth between Alec's inner thoughts, and the thoughts of the Green, it helps illustrate how he's trying to keep whatever is left of his humanity, instead of submitting completely to the Green's will. All that said, I'm ready for the shit to go down between him and Seeder, who apparently can hold his own in a fight against an 1,000-year-old assassin, and I'd like to see just how that's possible. Gonna have to wait until after Villains Month, though.

Satellite Sam #2

I was undecided about this book when the first issue came out, and then the Image DRM free thing happened, so I figured why not try it, as I'd like to get into Matt Fraction's creator owned stuff following how much I've enjoyed Hakweye, which is pretty much creator owned when you think about it. Anyways, we get a bit more to the story here, as there's a lot of TV politics going on, with people's contracts ending, producers trying to salvage stuff, etc, and an alcoholic fails at jerking off… or did he succeed? Hmm, I don't know. But I definitely enjoyed the issue, though I still have the problem with keeping characters straight, due to the black and white pages. Oh well, I'm pretty sure I'm on board completely now, this issue sold me… or maybe perhaps it's just because I've been watching The Newsroom lately, I don't know, either way, good series, check it out.

The Legend of Luther Strode #6

Boy, there was quite the gap between this issue and #5, wasn't there? But oh well, at least it's out, right? HEY! Spoiler alert, it was super violent and over the top. No, Luther and Jack didn't settle their differences like civilized men do, they stabbed each other, a lot! Then Petra shot some dudes, and chainsawed that one guy! Yeah, not for the kids, as always. But, if you're familiar with Tradd Moore's art, it has a cartoony and exaggerated sensibility that allows the ultra violence to not come off as disgusting as it may be in a more realistically drawn style, so it works incredibly well. This issue saw the end of this series, and it leaves both Luther and Petra at an interesting point, as Luther is pretty much in control of his shit now, and plans to go after all of Cain's followers with Petra… in The Legacy of Luther Strode coming next fall, woo!

Invincible Universe #5

You know what's pretty fucking dumb in a totally great way? Giving the leader of North Korea superpowers. That's hilarious. Last page reveal… Supreme Leader, blood on his hands, all evil. How can you NOT love the absurdity of that? Anyways, aside from the ridiculous reveal of the villain, I enjoyed this issue quite a bit for one particular reason, it seemed like an actual story was going to get told. The first four issues were very personal issues for particular characters, and didn't really build upon each other, while this issue seems to have really started an arc of sorts. It also made good on it's name, and referenced some of the events from Invincible's universe, IE the flooding of Earth from "The Death of Everyone," so it truly felt like Invincible Universe, rather than Characters from the Invincible Universe.

Trillium #1

If you're unfamiliar with what this book, it's Jeff Lemire's latest series from Vertigo, but unlike his previous work, it's only an 8 issue series. It's a love story between a scientist from the year 3797 or some ridiculous year like that, and a World War I soldier. How does that work? Well, some ancient Inca temple brings them together, or something… yeah, it's pretty out there, but it's really good, that definitely needs to be noted. The book is split into two chapters, and in print, you have to turn the book upside down to read the other, and they both meet in the middle. Nika's story deals with humanity being on the edge of extinction, and needing an alien flower to possibly fend of a sentient virus, while William is dealing with some post war stress and going on an adventure to find some lost ruins. Some crazy stuff happens to both of them, and the book ends with them meeting. It's a pretty weird concept, but it was a really fun read, and Lemire's art is great on top of all of that. This just reminds me that I should give Sweet Tooth a go, and there's that comixology sale going on at the moment…

All-New X-Men #15

So, with a month to go until Battle of the Atom, we get what can only be described as a filler issue, and that's okay, because it was pretty fun. The O5 are teens, and what are teens? Horny. So everybody is all over each other! Well, not really, but there's some… stuff between Jean and Beast, Iceman watching his older self make out with Kitty, and Cyclopes and Iceman stealing Wolverine's car to mack on some ladies. There were a lot of good gags in this issue, whether it be Jean and Rachel coming across each other for the first time, and not saying anything, Wolverine reacting to his bike being torn apart, or Iceman's reaction to himself and Kitty. It wasn't all fun and games… old Beast thinking to himself about Jean… well, that was creepy. What is she? 15? 16? Yeeeeeah, kind of weird to start getting all flustered there, old Beast.

Cable and X-Force #12

OORAY! My favorite Marvel book… or is that Uncanny Avengers? I don't know, this one has Dom in it, so this week, it's my favorite. There were two plots going on in this issue, the first had Dom and Colossus breaking into a Swedish bank to open then close a portal to hell, because you know, why the hell not? Then we got some answers as to what's happening with Cable from Hope in the future… turns out, future Hope is giving her dad all sorts of premonitions so X-Force can fix it in the present… but screw all that, let's talk about Dom and Colossus, because that's what I wanted to read! Their "relationship" has been anything but, as they hooked up, and ever since Colossus ha sort of been a puppy following Dom around. Here, Colossus basically calls Dom out on her shit for making excuses, all while they're fighting demons, and in the end, I guess they're going to try and make it work? D'AAAAAWWW. Anyways, as always, really fun book.